Church #56. Robertson-Wesley United Church.

Hello Sunday morning! I see you are here again... on time...
*sips coffee in an attempt to wake up.*

Ok, we are here!

I also noticed one of these cute little library boxes outside of the church! So cute and handy!

There were roughly 75 people there, mostly families and seniors, but there were a few 20-somethings there (with some very stylish haircuts.) The majority of this church is caucasian with a few visible minorities. 

I found it interesting that  there was both a male and female church leader, in almost identical robes, that took turns back and forth leading and performing the church service. One of the first things that was read was the "Declaration of love and acceptance." And this is how it went:

"In response to God's call, we, the congregation of Robertson-Wesley United Church declare our commitment to opening our hearts and our church family to all people in our community, regardless of sexual orientation, age, gender, differing abilities, ethnicity or economic circumstance.  We recognize that many peoples lives continue to be devastated by hatred and prejudice, and inequality, therefore, as a compassionate and caring spiritual community we will stand with those who are adversely affected by injustice, alienation and oppression." 

When I hear this, and think of Christ, it makes a lot of sense.
Jesus constantly went against-the-grain in his society to help those that were helpless or rejected. He spoke with people of a different tribe, which no Jews would have anything to do with (see Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman in John 4). He stood against a group of men, that were about to inflict the death penalty on a prostitute, even thou the law considered this punishment acceptable (see John 8:1-11). He went out into the countryside to heal many chronically ill and  highly infectious people. This was completely taboo to the Jewish people.

Jesus broke the rules, and I love him!
#breakalltherules!!!!

After that announcements were made.  This is a church that clearly enjoys having a participation in the arts, as they announced a list of art/theater related activities planned including group meals. One event that caught my attention, was an +18 event that they called "God on Tap".  I was actually very excited to hear this because I have attended a similar event hosted by a Unitarian minister that was open to all people of faith, and I truly enjoyed the experience. Basically, you plan to meet as a group in a bar/pub and you enjoy your drinks and food while having a small group discussion on the topic of the day. For example, when I attended a similar event our question was, "What does it mean to live bravely in your faith?" I personally suggest planning or finding one of these events for yourself.

Highly Recommended!  

Before the scripture lesson, we had children's time. So all the children ran up to the front of the church and they were asked to think about a time, when they asked God for help. Answers ranged from learning how to ride a bike, all the way to fighting with someone. After the lesson was done, the small stampede of roughly 20 kids herded there way downstairs, while the adults remained for the scripture lesson.

Today was two stories in one, Jesus heals Jairus' daughter and Jesus heals the woman with the "Issue of Blood"

In between theses two stories, I am sure one could find enough material to speak for hours, but the church leader kept it short. He spoke on how this well-known and respected Rabbi had to humble himself immensely to go find Jesus and fall at his feet, as his last hope of saving his daughter. Hope became a centerpoint of the conversation. It was said that the bleeding woman put all her hope in Christ and that is what healed her. The man with the ill daughter almost lost all hope when he left the house  to go seek out Jesus, only to be coming back to home to hear that his daughter died while he was gone.

I suggest fallowing the link, I think it gives a really good break down of this piece of scripture.
Jesus Heals Jairus’ Daughter (Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43)

An interesting side note to this was this is one of the few pieces of scripture where Jesus's exact words in his native tong of Aramaic are quoted. “Talitha koum!” which translates to roughly “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”

Fun fact:
Jesus's spoken language = Aramaic.
Language Gospels are written in = Common Greek.

I am not sure how closely these languages are compatible but I am once again reminded  how important it is to study the Bible in deeper detail. Especially when it comes to translation of words.

I will never forget the Torah (Old Testament) study session I had with a Rabbi. He took one old testament verse from a King James Bible and read it out, and the impression of it was strong, threatening and imperialistic. He then took the exact same piece of scripture from the original Hebrew in the Torah, the translation he gave had a completely different tone. It was comparable to the strong, warm, and loving heart, that a parent has for their child. 100% different without question. It blew my mind then, and still does to this day.

You might also be surprised to know, getting to our readable English Bible we have today, was one heck of a struggle.
Timeline of how we got the English Bible

Quotes of the day:

"We get told 1000 ways 'Don't get your hopes up! '"

"We know as long as God is with us, there is hope!"

By the way, this is one of these older churches, you can really see some of the western frontier architecture in the building. And of coarse, beautiful stain glass.

But this really caught me....... I have never seen Jesus being tempted by the Devil in the desert for 40 days, actually put into a window panel. Nor have I ever seen the devil portrayed wearing first century Mediterranean clothing. I guess there is a first time for everything.

 Over all this was a good Sunday and I enjoyed my time at this church.

"Go into the world with daring and tender love!" 

Church #55. The Church in Edmonton?

Well it was cold. That was for sure. When I got to the building at 10am I discovered the doors were locked. I was then informed by two people idling in their vehicle that the church would be opened soon. So I stood by the door.....in the cold.....waiting for someone with a key.

I didn't have to wait too long before the church leader came and opened the doors. But sad to say the inside was not much better. They were having heating problems and told us that they turned the heat on, and that it should warm up soon. That didn't really happen, (despite there attempts to put out space heaters) but the basement ended up being nice and warm (we went downstairs for lunch afterwards).

I found the set-up for the room very interesting: it was a flat-floored room with chairs set up in a square configuration around the center which featured an alter already set up with crackers and a glass of red wine. The population of this church was roughly 80 people with with a very diverse age and ethnic mix, but with a noticeably larger Asian presence.

The worship started in a really unusual way. All I remember was a man sitting in-front of me off to the left moan the phrase "Praise Jesus!". At first I didn't know what was going on. I thought this man might be an individual with some type of a developmental disability, and he was just kind-of speaking at random, but I was wrong. There was purpose to this. The worship was unusual. This is kind of how it looked.

Single Person:" Praise Lord Jesus!"
Whole Church: "Amen!"
Single Person: " You are the one who saves us!"
Whole Church: "Amen!"
Single Person: "You are the one who delivers us!"
Whole Church: "Amen!".......

P.S. the "single person" talking at some points was actually a group of people. All reciting some form of rewritten worship piece, which I am guess had been sent to them, or is available online?  Because most of the people there were reading off their phones.

Do that for about an hour, throw in 4 songs and communion done in a pass-it-down-the-line fashion, and you have the worship service. And a brief moment for personal prayer tacked onto the end.

Then for actual scripture study, we were divided into 5 groups and given a sheet with a piece of scripture and some explanatory text with it. All the "young people" were encouraged to go out into there own group first, so I followed. This group was headed by the church leader. After the material was read allowed we were given the readers digest-style explanation of it based on the explanatory text (not the scripture) and then it was questioned and discussed.

I am still shaking my head reading this piece of paper today, as I did when I first received it.

It covers two parables in Matthew 13:33 and 13:44.

13:33 Another parable he spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened. 

13:44 The kingdom is like the a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid, and in his joy goes and sells all that he has, and buys the field. 

(There is no reference as to what style of translation this is from.) 

Needles to say I was unimpressed with the explanatory text that was given.

The first sentence sums up the body of the text pretty well. "In God's eyes, the old and traditional practices in Christianity without the presence and reality of Christ are part of the present evil age."  It goes on to explain that we need to be aware of and avoid "Religion" which is described as "dead doctrinal knowledge" that can be found "in Satin's department". In this case this text defines religion as "to worship God, to work for God, To keep the law, and to improve ourselves and do so many good things religiously without the presence of Christ." 

Please note that at no point in this explanatory text is an explanation or break-down of the words and meanings in Matthew 13:33 and 13:44, given to the reader.

 Then there was something that did impress me. A young lady spoke up and looked past the "Religion is the work of the devil" them and asked for the same thing I was seeking. A real break down of the parables.

She pointed out that "leaven" or "yeast" is almost always referred to as bad in all other parts of the bible (and this is true). The church leader and another middle aged lady replied and said this was correct. And then gave her that this is an explanation of evil filtering its way into the world. But then this young lady came back and told them that this didn't make sense, because this parable is describing the nature of heaven. Then it was told to her that the leaven described the pure and central goodness that god intended for the church, and that the three measures of meal were all of the other "impurities" that have become fully ingrained and burred Gods true intention for the church.

I saw here shake her head at one point. I think we all knew that we were not about to get a competent answer. I could have stepped in and raised hell. But I decided to contribute what I felt was very lacking: explanation. So I gave the background info on what the purpose of "leaven" was in ancient bread making methods, why our Jewish ancestors saw it as negative, and a reminder of the current state of affairs during the Exodus and Passover.

I saw every face in the room perk up and stair at me like I had just said something profound.

There were a few other statements in this that I found interesting such as: " The darkness of religion overshadows the entire earth. People have been drugged with religion, and are fully under its influence. Therefore the Lord has no way to fulfill his eternal purpose in religion, including Judaism Catholicism and Protestantism."

The one that really got an eyebrow raise out of me was Judaism.

God has no way to fulfill his purpose in Judaism? And its laws and practices?
Wasn't there a book in the bible that is nothing but a recording of all the old Jewish laws? Laws that were literally given to the Israelite's by God? The Law of the 10 Commandments which was given literally written in God's hand?

*walks across room and opens Bible to the book of Deuteronomy*
Yep. Its still in there....

I am not sure what this churches opinion is on the topic of "is the Bible Perfect?" But for argument's sake, lets assume that they think it is. Maybe I got this wrong.... but what it sounds like to me is that the only conclusion to this is that God set-up and "EVIL RELIGION" when God laid out the rules and practices of Judaism.

But this could be explained if you go out on a limb and tap into Gnostic theology. But wait! It was declared in the concluding statements of this bible study that the Gnostic's and Secularism are both tools of Satin's "Evil Age."

*Thump,Thump,Thump....

But what about the verses in Matthew? What this all started with? Which apparently back this "Evil Religion" sermon?

I don't know why one would select these verses to try and make this argument. Any of the other punished commentary that I have found is very positive and loving. Besides, we are talking about a vision of the kingdom of heaven after all.  See link below:

Commentaries on Matthew 13-33

In my opinion, that could have been done a lot better. If you are going to address the problem of people that practice "Religion" vs. serving God mindfully with their heart and soul. Actually pick a verse that clearly talks about it.

Such as ;

Matthew 23:23-28 (NTL)
Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders

²³ “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens,^[g] but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. ²⁴ Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!^[h]
25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish,^[i] and then the outside will become clean, too.
²⁷ “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. ²⁸ Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.


It has been a while since I have seen something like this. But I am going to call this for what it is. 

In my opinion, and note..... I don't use this phrase lightly.
This was a case of Bible Twisting. 

I call 'em like I see 'em. 

Soon we returned to the room where each group had a member stand up and give a statement on the conclusions of each groups bible study.

As the statements were given, I took time to reflect on all of the "Religion-based" things I saw in this church.

- Reference to the "Bride Groom and his Bride" -Judaism
- Alter in the center of the room.- Judaism

But the icing on the cake had to be the lady the was wrapped in may scarves, wearing a doily on her head, that stood up and praised god for "Plucking us up from the Evil Jewish Religion!" 

*bites fist trying not to laugh.
See link: Women and Religious head coverings

Despite all of this I heard at least one thing I enjoyed today. One lady related living in Christ to the process of Physiotherapy. She said that (she?) had attended physio for her arm and that they taught her all the movements and exercises that she needed to do. But she knew if she went home and didn't do them, she would come back no better then she was before. To her, that is what living in Christ was. You go to church and they teach you what to do, but you don't get any better if you don't live for Christ the other 6 days of the week.

Quote of the day:

"God wants us to be his Expression!"

Despite my huge issue with the theology of this church. The people were actually really nice (save a few). They invited me downstairs for their lunch buffet, which was amazing by the way. I spoke with many of them about my ventures and future plans.

My conclusions on this church are simple. It was a good idea that kind of went sideways. It was like a baseball player hit a home run, but the ball went a funny direction and it ended up flying backwards and into the stands where it clipped a lady's arm, bounced off the seat, and broke a guys nose.

Yes I agree that there are a lot of Christians out there that follow ritual and have no concept of Christ in their heart,  and that these people are making no progress towards being closer to God. That is concerning for their sake and can also give the rest of us a bad name. But I don't think think this church is the answer to this issue.

At least not like this.
 

Church #54 Grace Lutheran Church.

So I missed the train. Again. Fun Fun.

But I did eventually get there. And I happen to approach the back side of the church, as I was walking up to it.

I really enjoyed the decorations. It all felt very festive.

Everyone was singing when I walked in. So I sat in the back and proceeded to find my place. I noticed that some one was chiming a hand bell to try to keep the church singing in time. It worked.... sort of .

As for the population, it was your standard 40-50 people, mostly causation and mostly in the 55-70 year old range. Or at-least at this service, there was another one earlier in the day but, I have no idea what the demographics of that one was like. And, yes sometimes the population that attends a 9 am service can be completely different from the ones that attends an 11 am service.

In-fact today was all about the bells. They had all the Children come up to the front of the Church for the kids message. They received an intro to what a hand bell is. And got a little history  on the use of church bells, and how they were used let people know what day was Sunday, and when it was time to come to Church. They gave the kids some jingle bells to rattle. And after that brief moment of satisfaction, the children all returned to their seats.

Today was the 2nd Sunday of Advent.

The church leader started off with telling us a story of the far north. And how the remote some parts of our territories are. And the deep, deep, silence that comes with it. We were told that the smallest noise would carry unbelievable distances, uninterrupted. On a regular basis, a mail plane would arrive in the town, and that plane would be heard a long time before it could actually been seen by the naked eye. He told us that, that is what he envisions when he thinks of the message of the profits and the coming of Christ. As something that can be heard well before it arrives.

I took a moment to notice one of the glass panels, and I found it very interesting. Did you know that some of the disciples have animal associated with them?

I knew that John had the Eagle...... But the rest came as a surprise!

I  am very happy to say that  today's sermon was in favor of teens. There is only one other service I can remember at this point, that had a message that supported the needs and concerns of adolescence.

The church leader explained how he worked with a group of teens and often participates in trips and activities involved with this group. As we all know most teens are deeply into  music  and some live and breath it. He mentioned that a lot of people out there (especially older people) feel there is no good music being produced now a days. This is not something new, and there is actually evidence that us as people actually do quit developing a interest in new music after a certain age. Check out the Link!

You stop listening to new music at age 33, earlier for parents, study finds

There was a brief mention of "ear worms"
 aka. Songs that you get stuck in your head for no apparent reason.

He church leader mentioned his was the "imperial march." From Star Wars.

You are welcome.

What I really love is how he came to the realization that, these young people, are listening to these songs because the message in them. This message is something that resonates with them. And when he stopped listening with "critical ears" he realized that this music is indeed "real", and provided a lot of insight into the minds and hearts of these young people. Young people that he has made a commitment to help and support.
At this realization I  am sure he felt some degree of distress. He proclaimed;
"Do I have my head so far in the clouds?!!!" 

Sad to say, I feel that most of the seniors that he were trying to explain the message to didn't really take it seriously, and laughed him off. This I think is a great shame.

Being some one who is smack in the middle of the of the Millennial generation. (people born between roughly the early 1980's to early 2000's.) I feel the weight of this "generational conflict." And all of the frustration and disconnect that comes from it. It is not fun. It truly is not.

But I do feel the flaring anger and disconnect is not helping anything. It really doesn't. Has it ever?

But I do have hope that there can be better communication and even co-operation between generations to help make everyone lives better.

I think the film "The Intern." touches on this idea.

Quote:

"If you don't hear anything good on the radio, are you actually listening? " 

Near the end of the service the church leaders youngest son comes running up to him (2 years old)?  . So he picks him up and holds him in one arm while finishing the service. I am not sure if  that is an unusual sight for some. But I grew up knowing a priest who had a a very attached little boy, whom he would have to hold for half the service some days.

After the service was over I had some time to talk to the church leader, he was even kind enough to let me take his picture and show off his robes.Which were home-made just for him, as a gift from his sister.

ps. The lettering you see in Hebrew is Gods name. 


So this is your look inside.....

Not a bad church over all. I went down stairs afterwords for some cookies and tea. And had some opportunists for some friendly conversation. And then I was on my way.

 *crunch, crunch, crunch, ICE......! crunch, crunch, crunch........

Farm The Land grow the Spirit 2016.

Attention all devout Muslims, Christians and Jewish people between the ages of  19-29! The Stony Point, Farm The Land grow the Spirit Program is now taking applications for it's 2016 semester! So since I participated in this program last year, I will obviously not be going this year. But regardless it is an amazing opportunity. If you are comfortable in an interfaith environment and willing to learn and get a little dirty this summer, this is the place for you! Fallow the link for more info!

Farm the Land, Grow the Spirit: A Multifaith Peace, Justice and Earthcare Program for Young Adults

Tips!
- Write a very solid in-depth multi page essay, and most of all, just be genuine.
- Apply eraly!
-If you don't apply, you will never know the answer to Murder Mystery Night!

!

I never trusted that piano player!....... ;)

In the news!

This was actually done a while ago, one day after my CBC interview. I didn't realize it was still online! 
http://www.metronews.ca/news/edmonton/2015/10/14/one-blogger-hopes-to-visit-100-churches-.html

Church #53. River City Church

I actually found this church from their online presence, when I was not specifically looking for a church to visit. Very impressive, and just short of unbelievable considering how far behind many churches are with having any type of clear online communication.

As most of you know, I use public transportation to get to all of my churches, (plus occasional car-pooling), and this church is within easy access of the LRT line.

So when I came in, I was greeted immediately. Everyone was very friendly and interested in what I had to say and what I was doing there. I met the leadership, and I was quickly whisked around the building and given a comprehensive tour. And of coarse the first room I was shown was the nursery/mothers area. It was a room sectioned off all by itself, with a bunch of kids playing with lots of toys, and even further back was a separate changing/nursing room. I noticed the TV in the children's area and I was told that the sermon was broadcasted into the children's area for any parents that may need to stay there during the service, which I thought was a smart idea.

But if any of you know me, you know that this was a less-than-comfortable experience for me (touring of the children's area and "meeting the kids" that is....).

That's like a person with a fear of spiders, walking into a museum, meeting the friendly and enthusiastic curator that tells you she is honoured to have you there, and then immediately saying "You really must see our new exhibit on tarantulas! It's one of our crowning gems!", and then being taken by the hand and ushered into the exhibit, while trying not to lose your composure. 
Needless to say, I survived it. It was very uncomfortable.
I don't blame her in any way, there is no way she would have known.

I feel that this church has really tried it's best to be accommodating. Besides the children's/mothers area, they had barrier-free washrooms, a side kitchen, caffeine bar, among other things.

Random side note:
A large donation of 100 lbs of potatoes were donated to the church, and everyone got a load of free potatoes at the end of the service. Mine are currently in my fridge (soon to be french fries ;).

The main room where the service was being held kind of threw me back. It was pretty low-lit and fully set up to accommodate the band. (P.S. the whole "Fire Fall" this was from a conference they had, and they had just not taken it down yet).

As for the demographics of this place, there was roughly three dozen people, in their 20's-30's and a few people beyond that. 50/50 gender ratio. Despite being mostly caucasian, there were some First Nations people and African-Canadians at the service.

As you can imagine the worship started with the band kicking into high gear. People in this church express themselves in a variety of manners; some people people put their hand to the sky in praise, some sit quietly with their head bowed, others go to the front and start jumping and dancing in front of the band, and some feel it right to fall to their knees and bow their head to the ground. All of the above are considered acceptable here.

I asked afterwords that if there are cases of speaking in tongues that occur here. The church leader told me that it happens on occasion. One thing I am really hoping for while doing this project is to actually witness a person break out into tongue-speak, but it is rare. Hopefully I will be so lucky as to see it in one of the next 47 churches.

One of the songs in the worship was At Your Name, which is one of my faves. Partly because it gives you an excuse to jump around.

I find this all so interesting because when I was in NYC, part of my studies centered around the idea of "what is God's name"? This was part of the teaching we received from our Jewish faith leaders. They referred to the part of the bible where Moses encounters the burning bush and he is instructed to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to free the Israelite's. (back in those days everyone declared things in the name of their god). So Moses asked Gods name. He got two answers: the first was the well known "I am what I am". That is short for "I am not telling you", which is something pretty bold. Considering that it used to be believed that God(s) could be literately "invoked and controlled"  if you called their name, Moses learned quick that this wasn't gonna work with this one. But he got a second name too: YHWH. But you can't pronounce it, and yet you say it constantly every day of your life. Follow the link for the rest of the explanation.

Breathing the name of God. 

One of Rabiis teaching my group said that he suspects that when Moses approached Pharaoh and asked in whose name do you declare this?, Moses likely let out a long, loud and clear breath. Just image that going down for a second. I am not sure about you, but if I was Pharaoh, I would have been deeply intimidated, when the very force of life itself has told you to step-off.

I also found the violinist in the band a refreshing touch. However, this is not the first violinist I have seen preforming with a worship team.

One of the church members came up to give some of his personal stories and reflections. This was mainly based around his father death and his choice "to get right" with his remaining family members. He told us how he and his family had come from a Catholic background and then came to find God and love Christ in a new way. He said a lot, but there were two things he said that I found very profound:

#1. "People lie al lot at funerals. And I really don't like them."
So luckily, I have not attended many funerals yet at this point in my life, but that was kind of a shocker for me. He said that people will say a lot of things, but they didn't really go visit that person very much, nor were they close with them. etc. I think the point of this is that we need to reflect ourselves and how we keep our relationships with those we care about.

#2. "....He was Catholic but had not come to Christ yet."   

Thank-you.......
THANK-YOU! THANK-YOU! THANK-YOU!!!!!!!

Finally some one acknowledged this!!! I once had a friend say that there is a difference between being religious and being spiritual. And there are many people in this world which are spiritual but not religious. But I think the less talked about are the religious but not spiritual. People that are literately so wrapped up in the procedure and practices of their religion, that they forget what is really the most important point. Having a relationship with God. and actually coming to embrace the salvation Christ brought us! And building the bridge with your heart and soul, that brings you closer to the almighty!  Kind of ironic eh?

Today's service was very "quotable". Here are a few Gems for you:

"The grace of God does not over-look sin, it gives you the power to overcome it." 

"The refugees are coming and I am not panicking! Our job is to LOVE people into the kingdom!"

"We can't be Christians that are like ostriches with our head's in the sand!" 

"What is the end game? The end game is to fill heaven, and plunder hell!"

"God will honour you, but he expects you to honour him back!" 

"God does not hold your past life ransom! Forcing someone to pay for their sins is witchcraft!"

And of course with talking about the world falling apart and refugees, we ended on the topic of the prime minister. We were told to pray for him and all of our leadership, as the bible taught us that we should. That didn't surprise me.
But what did was the fact that he is a professing Christian, and he took an Alpha course! 

Here is the link to the artificial on him doing the course and his faith:
Justin Trudeau's Christian Faith

And here is a link to the official web-sight for the Alpha course:
Alpha Course

"we need to stay vigilant and informed so we know how to pray." 


"I am not a Liberal, but pray for him!" 

One of the big topics that was talked about today was the end of the world. Which was kind of uncomfortable for me. "I don't want to be an sensationalist" he remarked. He pointed out that a lot of the thing happening in the world are symptoms of the "end time" He also acknowledged that the idea that the end time will be "soon" is something that people have been throwing out there for forever. He brought up 1 Thessalonians 5:2

"For you know quite well that the day of the Lord's return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night."  NLT.

Therefore we must remain vigilant and ready at all times. He reminded the room that the Bible says that in these time we should not panic. And that our focus should be to step up and love people into Gods kingdom.

He also gave his thoughts on the famous "Weeping and gnashing of teeth" line. In his mind, the rejection of God, and living without God, is a hell-filled life.

I think it is well put.

After all this they took the time to have people come up to the room that needed praying for so they could lay hands on them. What surprised me was that after they were finished praying for them, they started gently falling them to the ground and allowing them to just lay there for however long they needed. They also had a pile of personal sized blankets ready to cover each of them with. One of the young men that was prayed for and laid to the ground, had a noticeable medical disorder to do with his spine. He said that after he got up that something surprising happened when he fell. He said when he was under the blanket that "I did get warm, I got hot!". He explained that his back is almost always in pain or stiff when he walks, but now he feels fine!

"I didn't ask for healing, but my back is no longer stiff!"

On a final note I would like to just say how comparably guy-friendly this church is. I really think they have done a good job making this environment comfortable and inclusive for men, without going  to the extent of alienating the women (I have actually seen that before.)

And pulling that off is hard.

Bravo to you River City!

Church #52 St. Joseph's Cathedral Basilica

Maybe it is just me.... but it is not as big as it looks....

From the inside anyhow.

So today I am happy to report that they did not shut down the LRT line for "testing"..... AGAIN....So I was actually able to take the train down town and then walk a few block to the church. It was a kind of a bleak rainy day, but I was able to get this photo from under my umbrella.

Also, If you want a good look at this place, I suggest the Church's website where you can get a full interactive visual.

http://www.stjosephbasilica.com/basilica_tours.html

I walked into the giant main 3 door entrance, and encountered a wide cement set of stairs up to the main floor, as the building wafted with the sent of incense. There were three things about this church that surprised me right off the bat:

 #1. Despite being a catholic church, I did not have to be there at 8am. The church had multiple                  service through the day. The options were 8:30 am, 10:30 am, 12:15pm and 5 pm.

#2. I got there a bit early, but by the time the service started 95% of the space in the pews was taken         up. This place was FULL!

#3. As you well know I like to record the age range and demographics of a church, and I can tell you         this one had a lot of families with slightly older kids, (but not necessarily a lot of young kids,               maybe they were in the Sunday school/daycare?) This church was diverse, but I can tell you that         that at-least 75% of this churches population is Filipino.

Even though remembrance day was not officially until Wednesday, the front of the church was already set-up with a wreath.

Seeing this church I feel is a strong example of how immigrants are helping preserve the christian roots of country, not destroying them. (not to say that all of Canada's roots are Christian, but some of them definitely are). Because lets be honest, us "old stock" 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, (I myself am 2nd-3rd mattering how you count it) generation Canadians have done a terrible job of keeping our churches alive. A few of them are holding out and doing well, but the bulk of them are simply dying out with their patrons. Diversity among the congregation is a big part of the reason this church can still open it's doors every Sunday. I call 'em like I see 'em.

One of the first announcements made after the church procession entered, was that there were pamphlets available at the back door that had to do with petitioning the Prime Minister to protect the environment.

In-between different parts of the service there was a talented young African-Canadian lady that sang a variety of hymns and worship songs at the front. I quite enjoyed it.

So the teaching today was the story of the widow with the two copper coins. I am not sure exactly what part of scripture it is taken from. Because it is listed in both Luke and Mark. But lets go with Mark.....

Mark 12:38-40 (HCSB)

³⁸ He also said in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes, and who want greetings in the marketplaces, ³⁹ the front seats in the synagogues, and the places of honour at banquets. ⁴⁰ They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher punishment.”

Mark 12:41-44 (NIV)

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

In the first part of the scripture is a warning of those who may attempt to abuse their power in the church. And Jesus's emphasis that we need to care for the widow, the orphan and the alien (traveler) for they have nothing. 

It was also mentioned that we need to be carefully that when we do good acts, they are actually motivated out of love. When the scribes pass the treasury, they contribute a large amount, but it is all in the name of keeping up appearances. The widow puts in her last two coins as a statement of faith. Apparently in the Greek translation the word they used to describe this giving was actually "Bios" which literately translates to the word "life". This woman gave so much more, because she was literately at the end of her rope and gave her "life" to God. While the scribe gave many times more, it was all worthless, as it was give out of pride.

"We are all poor in love"

"If we do things as good Christians out of pride and appearance, there is no room for Gods love." 

But what kind of caught me, was a comment about how currently we need to question if sometimes our "tolerant and inclusive attitudes" are motivated by pride?..... Tolerant and inclusive of what?  You could fill a lot of things in that blank...

Immigrants?
Muslims?
Members of the gay community?

And if so, is the support of these people/groups wrong? Or just wrong when it is done out of pride and not from Gods love? I will let you ponder on that...

So when time came to accept communion, you could tell that they anticipated a large crowd. I watched the priest bless 12 gold cups of wine and 5 bowls of rice crackers. I took communion that day. And as I was in the line-up I saw the congregation being patrolled buy a very strict looking (Filipino?) priest. I honestly could not even focus on receiving communion because I found this guy so intimidating... seriously.

P.S. So the wine today was real wine. White wine to be exact. And even thinking about it now, I am still trying to wrap my head around what it was. It was definitely sweet, but it was not a moscato or an ice wine. The flavour was very rich and well rounded. and I am not sure what percentage it was but it almost tasted fortified? Honestly, I think this one will just remain a mystery...

Also, Photographers! I seriously suggest you sneak in here! There is some serious eye candy in this church!

Adios my friends!